Danny The Idiot - Balloon show party - review

When I had the idea of booking a balloon modeller for the twins' party, I'm so glad I went to Gemma.  She doesn't do balloons but recommended Danny who I immediately booked after hearing what he offers, a whole show of magic, hilarity, balloons and fun.  Perfect!  His show is an hour but he came early to get changed and set up.  We timed the party around it with guests arriving at 10:30 to get the initial excitement over with before his show started at 11, then afternoon tea at 12 followed by general play and the pinata and cake to be finished by 13:30.  It all worked beautifully on the day, helped I think by having just six kids, definitely the way forward people, I really enjoyed it this year as I was able to be so much more organised for a smaller do.

Anyway, Danny started off with some scarf juggling followed by real juggling and was constantly surprising the kids and making them laugh.

Rainbow birthday pinata fun!

We had one more surprise at the end of the party, the pinata.  I had to buy the rainbow pinata by Sunnylife (one of my favourite brands for rainbow stuff) from Paperchase (another favourite shop for bright colours and rainbows)!  I hung it from our banister on landing above the stairs so it could swing and still be secure and not damage anything.

Food tour in Lisbon - review of Treasures of Lisboa

While in Lisbon, we booked a couple of last minute tours, one of which was a food tour with Treasures of Lisboa.  If you're in Lisbon for a short break (or a longer one) we would highly recommend this tour near the start to get a real taste of Lisbon and find out some amazing places to eat for the rest of your trip.

When Ruthy turned up at the meeting point, we knew this would be fun.  She's so vivacious and immediately put us at ease as we hovered in the rain, explaining the area we were about to explore and guiding us first to a view point overlooking Alfama.

Twins rainbow afternoon tea birthday party

I organised a rainbow afternoon tea party for the twins' 4th birthday and loved it so much! 

I was especially proud of my rainbow jelly!  I managed to find all the colours except blue in Tesco and ordered Jello from amazon to complete the stripes.  I filled some wine glasses and my Tiki Head glass with the extra layers which added more decoration and colour to the table setting.

Bing Live - review

We were invited along to see Bing Live in Eastbourne this evening and we had a wonderful time!  I was prepared with extra snacks for the twins this time after our first theatre outing to see The Snark and it worked for the most part.  Priya was pretty good but Kalyan was a bit restless as usual, I was glad to have my friend Alisha with me to help control things.  Regardless, we all loved the show, joining in with the dancing, cheering and clapping.  It started at 4, we had an interval at half past and it was finished around 5:15pm which was ideal and we went straight around the corner for dinner afterwards.

I was allowed to take photos of the show this time so these are all my own photos of the evening.

Trampoline party at Fun Abounds

I'm ashamed to say this was our first visit to Fun Abounds in Uckfield!  I have always fancied taking the kids but their special toddler sessions always landed on the wrong day/time for us and so we just never went.  Luckily we were invited along there for a birthday party recently and had an awesome time celebrating the twins' friend and having lots of bouncy fun!

Tulley's Farm Spook Fest 2018 - review

A Halloween festival, hell yes!  I was so excited to visit Tulley's Farm for their annual Spook Fest (the family friendly daytime version, not to be confused with the terrifying looking Shocktober Fest which is on in the evenings for older kids and adults).   I'd never been before but had heard it was good and was excited to spend a Halloweeny day with the twins since Nik and I were away for Halloween itself.  You know how much I love Halloween and when my friend Steph asked us to join her family there for the day I was even more excited, Priya adores her eldest daughter Bella and they are all so cute together, holding hands and generally being cute!

Lisbon - A grown up getaway!

I'm just writing a quick summary for now as I have so much to say about this trip but I'm struggling to keep up with everything as usual at this time of year!  Basically, Lisbon was awesome!  I would highly recommend a short trip away to any parents, especially if you've hardly seen each other all year!  Nik and I are so grateful to his parents for coming to look after the twins so we could have some quality time alone exploring Lisbon.

We had cocktails, found so many beautiful tiles, ate fancy food and drank fancy cocktails, ate simple food and beer, wine and/or Ginja!  We walked and walked, rode on lots of trams and busses, took so many photos and tasted so many things.  We had a pamper session on a rainy day in our hotel, chilled out in the bar, had lots of lay-ins and ate as many Pasteis as we could!!  We managed to fit a fair bit into our 5 days away :)

The city is so colourful, between street art and so many different tiles and with beautiful paving and so much character.  I would definitely recommend it for a city break in Europe but be prepared for steps!  :D

Cafe Coho Brighton - brunch review

I went along to Cafe Coho for brunch with Diana and Laura before our day at Photography Farm conference in Brighton and absolutely loved it!  They have two in Brighton, one up by the train station and one in Ship Street down in the Lanes.  We went to the one in Ship Street and sat outside as it was a bit too warm inside.

The whole menu sounds amazing, I honestly struggled to choose what to have!  I need to go back so I can sample more of their food.  In the end I chose the brioche french toast with blueberries, banana and bacon - a great combo, especially with mascarpone cream (this was just a drizzle which was a little disappointing, I would have liked a good dollop).  It was amazing - so soft, fresh and tasty.  Diana had one of the other things I was eyeing up, the tarragon mushrooms on sourdough - she let me have a taste and it was awesome too so I might get that next time!

Laura had one of the avocado on toast options which also looked amazing.  I had a Bloody Mary as I really fancied one but it was WAY too spicy for me so as much as I hate to, I went back in and asked for another, less spicy one.  They were fine about it and made a fresh one which still had a good kick but was drinkable, I couldn't cope with more than a sip of the first one.

They have a great ethos, using "specialist dairy, meat and vegetable suppliers to put together some amazing dishes."

"We constantly look for great producers who share our passion for quality. Along with a delicious and varied all day breakfast/brunch menu you will find a counter packed with homemade cakes, artisan sandwiches, freshly made juices and any time treats. Many of our dishes are vegan and gluten free."

I also couldn't resist their salted caramel chocolate brownies so I went back later in the day to buy some to take home, they were a hit with Nik too!

Baking with Hemina - Cheese & mustard scones recipe

As I mentioned in my Fuego Lounge review, my friend Hemina kept us occupied one weekend when I was feeling very down.  On the Saturday she came over to bake with me and the kids, Priya especially had a blast and the scones were so easy to make and tasted amazing!  We had them hot for lunch with some truffle salami from Aldi (highly recommended by the way).

Fuego Lounge brunch review

A few weeks ago I was having a really tough time and my lovely friend Hemina seemed to instinctively know what I needed and came round to bake with me and the kids on Saturday and invited us all out for brunch on Sunday.  It was lovely and really took my mind off everything!

Nik's breakfast complete with homemade sausage patty.

Bridge Cottage Emerging Artists Exhibition

I was delighted to be invited to take part in my first joint exhibition this month at Bridge Cottage.  Myself and five other artists, mostly photographers, each had a space to make our own with our work and I loved filling mine with a collection of some of my favourite landscape images as well as my family work to demonstrate what I do as Bexphoto.